No Longer the Zeppo
by Shannon K
Summary: BTVSKindred crossover with Xander being the main focus. Xander has realized that he no longer belongs with the Scoobies. Rated for the potty language that comes naturally to me.
1. Chapter 1

No Longer the Zeppo

Author's notes: Infringements are meant, but I'm not making any money off this so please don't sue; you wouldn't get anything of value from me anyway.

Also, I wrote this in part due to a conversation I had with a friend about television shows that have a strong female lead that tend to emasculate male characters in an attempt to show how strong the female is. I find it offensive and cheap to take that route and tend to get annoyed when shows, movies, or books make the men into simpering girlfriends. It cheapens the character and detracts from what true feminism really is supposed to be. To make another character or person appear weak to emphasize the "strength" of another is cheap and a weakness in the writing. Personally, I hated the way the show underutilized the character of Xander. So, I decided to have fun with the character and put him in an AU where the 5th, 6th, and 7th seasons (which I pretty much hated) did not exist with him actively in it, with a serving of a crossover with Kindred: The Embraced. In my universe, Larry the gay football player is alive and so will be Tara. Please forgive any errors with either show, as I have not seen either in quite awhile. Also, with the Kindred universe, I am basing the 'facts' from what was done in the show, not necessarily the RPG. I haven't played the game in years nor do I really want to. If there are errors, let me know nicely or just chalk it up to this being an AU story and a product of my weird mind.

Warning: Flagrant use of potty language – you've been warned.

Chapter 1

It has been a year since they had graduated from high school. Cordillia had moved to L.A. in hopes of becoming a star. Oz was on some sort of self-imposed sabbatical in hopes of understanding and controlling his werewolf nature. Willow had split up with Oz and gained a girlfriend. Buffy was still the Slayer and had just completed her first year of college. Dawn was going to start high school the next year. Giles and Anya were the proprietors of The Magic Box and were heavily involved in supplying the more magical minded of Sunnydale.

Xander Harris, though, was just staring to find his own. He had finally landed a decent job with a local construction company. That, plus his stormy relationship with Anya, a former Demon, and the occasional helper-monkey duties of being a Slayerette kept him busy.

Right now, on a Friday night, he was on the road, headed to San Francisco on an errand for Giles and to see his old friend from high school, Larry. Giles needed a book that a dealer had obtained from some sort of estate sale and Larry, who had moved to San Francisco to go to college, had invited him up a while back. Since it beat paying for a motel room, Xander took his friend up on his offer and would be staying with him and his roommates for the weekend.

It was late by the time he arrived at Larry's; the drive had been long and he had put in a full day at work earlier. He barely had the energy to greet Larry, the roommates, and Larry's boyfriend. Larry showed him the couch where he could crash and as soon as his head hit the pillow he was out like a light.

The next day, after several cups of coffee and a hot shower, he was able to face the day. Larry's apartment mates were pretty nice. They were three guys from his school's football team who were apparently cool with Larry being out. Larry's boyfriend was pretty nice too. Similar to Larry in build, very manly in Xander's opinion; neither of them were a stereotype of what the typical gay man was supposed to be like.

Xander swung by the book dealer's store and picked up Giles' latest find: Demonology – a Study into the Dark Mind. The dealer assured Xander that it was a rare first edition and was well worth the cost; like Xander really cared.

Once that was done, he met Larry and Reed, the boyfriend, for lunch down at the Pier. During lunch Reed asked Xander if what Larry had told him about the darker side to Sunnydale was true. Xander, with a raised eyebrow in Larry's direction, confirmed that indeed there were such things as werewolves, demons, and the like and that Sunnydale was a Hellmouth.

"So you guys really did blow up your high school during graduation?" Reed asked in amazement.

"Yep," Xander affirmed. "The mayor turned himself into a snake-demon and wanted to eat the senior class as a way to herald his ascension. It turned out to be a great bar-be-que for us all."

"You should have seen Xan here," Larry gushed. "He was like our general, making sure that we all knew what to do in the fight."

Xander frowned and shrugged. "It wasn't that big of a deal. I just used the memories of when I was turned into a super soldier for Halloween."

"It was too a big deal. You were a rock out there when everyone else was ready to panic," Larry protested.

"You were turned into a soldier?" Reed asked, confused.

"Yeah, evil man with an evil costume shop turned everyone into their costume. Luckily, I was turned into a soldier and not something stupid and helpless," Xander snorted.

"Is this a normal occurrence for you guys?"

Larry and Xander looked at each other and grinned.

"It seems that way," Xander explained. "I've been possessed by a hyena spirit and a soldier, a coach tried to turn the swim team into frog spawn, chased after by a killer clown from hell, dated a Incan mummy that tried to suck my soul out of my body, almost got eaten by my science teacher that turned out to be a praying mantis, fought vampires and demons on a regular basis, went to the Prom with an ex-vengeance demon, and dated the head cheerleader."

"Have you ever considered relocating? Somewhere far away," Reed said after a few moments.

"Every fucking day," Xander said heavily.

"What's going on Xan? You were always the up one in the class. No matter how bad things got, you were always the positive one. What's changed?" Larry asked picking up that something was really wrong with his friend.

"Nothing really I guess. I have a good job, but the whole saving the world from the Apocalypse on an almost weekly basis is getting old. Plus the others treat me like I need some sort of protection, just because I don't have Slayer powers or can do magic. They send me out on errands, to get a book, get the coffee, doughnuts, whatever. I'm tired of being the Zeppo of the group."

"Why don't you leave? Stay here in San Fran. There are a lot of construction jobs up here, go to school, do whatever you want. Start over and be what you want to be. Its quiet here, no Hellmouth, no hordes of vampires," Larry suggested. "Coming to San Francisco gave me a chance to be me; I didn't have to be the asshole that I was in high school. People were okay with me being openly gay, plus I got to meet Reed here," Larry said, affectionately squeezing his lover's hand.

"Maybe," Xander said, staring out into the Bay, thinking about what Larry had said.

A/N: Please review. If you must criticize, please be constructive about it. Cheers!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Please don't sue; I'm not making any money off this. Again, if I have made any mistakes with the Kindred aspect of this story, please find it in your heart to forgive me and realize that I haven't seen the show in years, I am not into the RPG, and this is an AU for both Kindred and BTVS. Thank you to those that did take the time to review. Your comments helped to make my day. For those that did read, but chose not to review, thanks anyway. At least you took the time to check it out.

Warning: Potty language, but it seems that this chapter was light on it. I am sure I'll make up for it in the next chapter or so.

Chapter 2

That night, Larry, Reed, Xander, and Larry's roommates went out to some sports bar that was not far from the apartment that they shared. The place was crowded, catering to a mostly young crowd. Best of all, they did not card.

They had a decent time. The Giants, at Chicago, were on the big screen, loosing badly. It was the top of the eighth, one to seven, the Cubs favor. Despite the humiliation being served to the Giants, the crowd was in a pretty jovial mood.

Out of habit, Xander kept scanning the crowd, looking for anything off, anything that screamed vampire. Oddly, for him, he saw nothing. Maybe he had been in Sunnydale way too long.

What he did not see was the Gangrel by the bar, watching Xander. She wondered how the young human could carry such wild, almost animalistic, power. The raw essence of it sang to her, calling to her blood. She felt her feral, gypsy nature being drawn to the human. She wondered if the Prince of the city would allow such an embrace. She wanted the human to join his kind. She knew that it would be a perfect match. Now she only had to get Cash on board.

The guys sat in the bar well past the end of the game, soaking up the atmosphere. Dade, Jarrett, and Tyler (Larry's roommates) spent the time flirting with several women, hoping that they would be lucky enough to at least get a number. Larry and Reed kept trying to draw Xander out of his melancholy mood that he had drifted into earlier.

Eventually it was Xander's turn to get the next pitcher of beer. He stood up, steady on his feet for he hardly had anything to drink. He figured that if one fought the dead on a regular occasion, it would not do to be half sloshed in the process. That would easily get you killed.

As he was ordering a pitcher of Budweiser Select, an attractive woman sidled up next to him. She was a few inches shorter than him, with long dark hair that reminded him of Cordillia. Her eyes were an intense shade of blue and were framed by the longest set of eyelashes available. Her body was shapely and muscular. She wasn't skeletal-skinny, like Buffy, but thin and strong, more like Faith.

_Oh God, Faith_, he mentally groaned. _Don't go down that road buddy_.

"Hi. I'm Emily," she said and offered him her hand, which Xander took automatically.

The moment their skin made contact, Xander's hyena instincts kicked in to gear. He looked her over, appraisingly, judging for himself if she was worth his time. A growl of approval was barely held in check. He liked what he saw.

"Hi back. I'm Xander," he responded, stepping closer to her, taking in her light, airy scent.

"That's an unusual name. Is it short for something?" Emily asked, liking how he was responding to her, liking how she was responding to her.

"It's short for Alexander. A friend from grade school couldn't say my full name so Xander kind of stuck," he explained, smiling directly at her.

"I see. So are you from around here? I come here a lot and I haven't seen you before."

Xander shook his head. "I came here for the weekend. A friend needed me to pick up a book for him and I wanted to visit a friend from school. He and his friends brought me here."

"Well, I am glad that they did. Where are you from?"

"Sunnydale, the gaping maw to Hell," Xander replied, a touch of bitterness in his voice.

"Sunnydale sounds like it isn't the greatest of places to be Alex. Are you going back soon?" Emily asked. She knew the truth about Sunnydale, the same as all vampires of the Masquerade. That town was unofficially off-limits to all clans except Primordial clan, the soulless demon vampires. While going there was not forbidden, it was considered a bad idea to do so. She was hoping that the human wouldn't suddenly disappear, lost to her forever.

Xander smiled at Emily's use of his name. It was nice, in a way, to be known as someone other than plain old Xander, even if it only involved a name change. "I have to be back for work on Monday," he said, disappointed in himself. He was really attracted to this woman, and he hated that he had responsibilities that took precedence.

"That's too bad. Do you think you'll head back up here anytime soon?" she asked, feeling hopeful.

"Maybe," Xander replied, "if the end of the world doesn't occur anytime soon. Is there some reason I should come back?" he asked, enjoying the flirting that was taking place between them.

"The end of the world; isn't that a just a bit over dramatic?" she questioned, a teasing smile on her lips.

Xander smiled. "Not really," he said, but offered no real explanation. He wasn't sure how he could explain life in Sunnydale without coming off as a total psycho. Explaining things to Reed was different; Larry had already laid the foundation, all he needed to do was add the details in. Also, Reed, according to Larry, had already had a run-in with the supernatural before they had met.

"So are you free tomorrow, even just for a little while? Maybe we can get together and find something fun to do. I was planning on going to the Conservatory of Flowers at Golden Gate Park. I know it's kind of a girl thing to do, but I really like plants." Emily asked, her blue eyes sincere

"I think so. Do you want to meet somewhere?" Xander asked, calculating how long he could stay in town before having to go back to Sunnydale.

"How about we meet at Golden Gate Park at nine? Will that work for you?" Emily asked, hope in her voice.

"Sure. How do I get there?" Xander asked.

Emily grabbed a napkin and quickly sketched a map for him to follow. She also included her cell phone, just incase he needed it.

Soon they parted company. Emily had gotten a call, from her boss she said, and had to go. With a light kiss, she promised to meet him tomorrow at the park. Xander, strangely happy at the thought of spending more time with the beautiful and mysterious Emily, reluctantly said good-bye to her and rejoined his friends at their table.

-xoxoxoxoxo-

The next morning, after heartily thanking Larry, Reed, and the roommates for their hospitality, Xander loaded up his car and headed off to Golden Gate Park, following Emily's detailed map.

Within a half an hour, he pulled into the parking lot in front of the Conservatory. Emily was sitting on a bench off to the side, wearing a tight, brown, AC-DC t-shirt, low slung jeans, and sandals. Her dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail and her eyes were shaded by a pair of dark, wrap-around sunglasses. Overall, the effect looked casual yet hip. Xander hoped that he looked good to Emily.

Larry and Reed made Xander wash his good jeans and "loaned" him a long-sleeved red University of San Francisco t-shirt. While he appreciated their concern for him making a good impression, he felt as if he was being dressed up like a play thing or a project – kind of like what Cordellia or Buffy would have done.

"Hey there," Emily greeted him warmly.

"Hi back," Xander replied, smiling at her. "Shall we?" he asked, gesturing towards the glass building. Emily linked her arm though his and guided him inside. Despite her protests, Xander paid their admission fees.

They spent the next few hours touring the conservatory and the outside gardens. Emily seemed to enjoy the butterfly exhibit the most while Xander enjoyed the lowland tropical gardens the most. They both agreed that the plant named 'Ted' was disgusting and smelled like a rotting corpse; it did not help that for the both of them, their sense of smell was elevated, thus intensifying the putrid odor the exotic plant gave off.

While they wandered the gardens, they talked about their lives, their families, but at the same time they were guarded in what they could say. Xander was careful to avoid mentioning any of the supernatural events of Sunnydale, while Emily was careful to not mention anything about the Kindred or the Masquerade.

Despite having big chunks of their lives off limits, they talked about their childhoods, their likes and dislikes, television shows that they both liked, and other normal stuff that people discussed on a first date.

Too soon, it was getting late and Xander had to get back to Sunnydale.

"So, do you think you might come back up here anytime soon?" Emily asked.

"Only if I get to see you again," Xander said, grinning at her. "Would it be okay if I gave you a call sometime this week?"

"That would be nice," she said smiling, internally praying that nothing would happen to him in Sunnydale.

"Cool," he said.

He wasn't sure on how to end this date. He wanted to kiss her; not shove his tongue down her throat, though that did have its own appeal, but he was not certain what her reaction would be.

Luckily, Emily solved that problem for him by leaning in and kissing him herself.

The kiss itself was tender and sweet, but held its own intensity. Her Gangrel nature, the passionate, gypsy side to her personality meshed nicely with his animalistic, hyena-tinged, yet intensely loyal nature. They fit, they could both tell instantly, together.

Xander could not wait to talk to her again.

A/N: Thanks for reading, and as ever, feel free to hit that shiny button and do the review thing.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I don't own Kindred: The Embraced or BTVS; please don't sue. I promise to return any recognizable characters once I am done with them, though they might be slightly used and/or scuffed up. Again, please forgive any mistakes that I may have made pertaining to the characters or cannon. Just accept this as an AU story and a product of my warped mind. Thanks to those that have reviewed, those that put me on their alert lists (that made me smile), and those that took the time to read my crap.

Warnings: potty language and a crass reference involving sex. Seriously, I'm not a pervert; it's just something that I added to the story. Hope it doesn't offend you too much – though if you are a sensitive person (what the hell are you doing reading the M stuff anyway), read something else. I always recommend Dietcokechic or Cleo the Muse (they are both awesome writers). Cheers!

Chapter 3

"Where have you been? I've been waiting for the book," Giles said, adjusting his glasses, looking unbelievably stuffy and British.

Xander figured he hadn't even been in the apartment for five minutes and the Scooby gang was ready to bite off his head. He tossed his jacket on to a near-by chair and unzipped his backpack.

"Yeah Xan, I need to get with the patrolling and Giles won't let me go until he finishes looking up some demon thingy," Buffy said, looking put out.

Xander ground his teeth. "Hi Xander, how are you? How was the weekend in San Francisco that you told us that you would be doing?" Xander could not help with the sarcasm in his voice. "In case you've forgotten, it's a long drive from San Francisco and I told you that I would be making a weekend of it. Larry says hi, by the way."

"Xander, you know how important it is for Buffy to be the Slayer," Willow said, trying to be placating, but only came off as condescending. "We really needed that book. There are some spells that I need to cross-reference with that book before I try anything."

Tara, bless her heart, rolled her eyes at how the others were acting. "Did you have a good time Xander?" she asked quietly.

"Where's the book Xander?" Giles demanded, standing up now.

Xander, sick of the shit he was getting, barked out his response, coming off stronger than he intended, maybe. "Here's the damn thing," he slammed the semi-ancient tome on the dining table. "Next time you need an errand, find some other monkey-boy to do it for you. Tara, thank you for asking, I appreciate it. I had a great time." With that, he grabbed his jacket and stormed out of Giles' home and headed back to his parents' house.

Once back at the house he had grown up in, he found both of his parents passed out drunk in the living room, with the television and lights on. They were not bad people; growing up, they didn't hit him or neglect his basic needs like food or health care. They cared, but were too wrapped in their problems of work and their alcoholism, that they tended to ignore him most of the time.

With a sigh, he turned off the television, turned the lights down, and helped his mom and dad off the couch and into their bedroom. Once they were settled, he straightened up the living room, tossing out the empty beer bottles and the half empty food cartons. It was a familiar ritual with him, one that his friends were not aware off, not even Willow.

When the house had been somewhat tidied up, he went down to his basement bedroom and literally fell into bed. Worming around, he pulled his wallet, loose change, his cell phone, and a napkin out of his pockets before kicking off his jeans and struggling out of his shirt.

The wallet, cell phone, and money went onto the nightstand by his bed. The napkin he held up and closely examined Emily's neat, flowing script. Her phone number, 867-5309, was written at the bottom. He really wanted to call her, to hear her voice, but he knew that if he called now, he would seem stalker-ish and desperate. Plus, it was late and she was probably in bed by now. As he rolled over to set his alarm clock, he promised himself that he would call her tomorrow.

-xoxoxoxoxo-

The day had been hard, but luckily it had gone by fast. The owners of the office building that Xander's company was currently constructing had wanted changes made to the plans. They could not seem to understand that if plans were changed, several people, from code inspectors to architects to job site boss, needed to be consulted before the changes could take place

Xander spent the day hunting down the proper people to get the changes approved. It had delayed the crews a bit but they didn't really care. The crew was union ands they were going to get paid no matter what. By the time five o'clock rolled around he was tired.

He went home, took a shower, and made himself some dinner (since his mother was not a great cook, he had learned to fend for himself over the years). While he was cooking, Willow called him on his cell phone.

"Yes?" he asked, not sure he really wanted to talk to his best friend right then. It was Monday and he really wanted to vegetate in front of the television, watching the weekly SG-1 marathon on the Sci-Fi channel. Also, Anya had called earlier in the day and said that she might swing by later that night for some fun-sex.

"Xander, we found where the Rikhusha demons are holed up. We need to go and kill them before they can perform the Rite of Yawillia and we need a ride over there," Willow said in a rushed manner, not bothering to catch her breath while delivering the message.

Mentally, Xander started to bang his head into a wall. Did he, or did he not, mention how he did not appreciate being treated as the messenger boy of the group?

"Xander, please come on. Giles said the demons are going to use children to open a portal to their dimension and unleash more of their kind upon the world."

Okay, children were different, Xander decided. One did not get into a snit when there were kids involved. "I'll be there in ten minutes," he said into the phone and hung up. He turned off the stove and transferred some of the stir-fry from the pan to his plate.

Having learned to eat quickly, he soon finished. He found his boots, wallet, and car keys. Xander kissed his mother good-bye, who was already on her way to a drunken stupor, and was out the door. He drove over to Willow's house to pick her up, who in turn directed him towards Giles' home to pick up Giles and Buffy.

-xoxoxoxoxo-

"What took you so long?" Buffy demanded.

Xander bit his tongue. He was so tempted to tell the Slayer to get the fuck out of his car. However, there were children in danger of being sacrificed, so he kept quiet.

They drove over to one of the many abandoned warehouses in Sunnydale. Buffy, Willow, and Giles jumped out of the car the moment he brought the vehicle to a stop. He turned off the car and started to get out, but Buffy stopped him with her words.

"Stay here Xander. I don't want you to get hurt," she said, unmindful of how cutting her words were. "You don't have any powers and I don't want you in danger."

Willow and Giles looked at Buffy in shock, but said nothing to the contrary. Their silence spoke volumes.

"I see," he said icily, but remained behind.

The others ran into the building. Moments later he heard a great commotion and then he heard Willow yell: 'they're getting away!'

Xander pulled a combat knife from a sheath that he kept concealed underneath his shirt and climbed out of the car. Soon, two green, scaly lizard-like demons, with black hair on their heads and three electric blue eyes came running out the doors that the Slayer and her Scoobies had entered through.

Catching one with an elbow and a left hook, he momentarily stunned one of the demons. The other, he slammed the knife, all the way up to the hilt, into the demon's stomach. He then dragged the weapon upwards and twisted it. Pulling the knife out, he quickly dispatched the other demon.

Buffy and the others came charging out of the building, to find Xander and two dead demons at his feet.

"Xander, I told you to stay out of it. You could have been hurt!" Buffy screeched, pissed that Xander did not do as she ordered.

"Xander, really, why did you have to get involved?" Giles muttered.

Before Willow could chime in, Xander finally found his voice. "Just who the fuck do you think you are Buffy, telling me to stay out of things because I might get hurt? I have lived on the Hellmouth all my life. I've fought demons, vampires, and all sorts of scary-ass things by your side for the past three and a half years by my choice. I can take care of myself. I'm not as helpless as you like to pretend." His voice was full of anger and the frustration that had been building for the past year.

"I'm the Slayer. It's my duty to fight the demons and vampires, not yours," Buffy shot back, a superior tone in her voice.

"Fine you're the great powerful Slayer. If it is your duty, then why involve others at all? Why call me? Oh wait, you needed a ride. What about Willow and Giles? Why can they take risks with their lives and not me? What's their worth?" Xander demanded.

"Willow's a powerful witch and Giles is, well, Giles. He knows stuff," Buffy said.

"Oh yes, I forgot that part. Since Willow can do magic, which sometimes is way over her head and gets way out of control, and due to the fact Giles wears a lot of tweed and is into books, and since I apparently am the village idiot, I have to be protected. Just because I've learned to fight, know Latin and two demonic languages, and have my hyena and soldier abilities, I know nothing. Thanks a whole-fucking lot Buffy. To you I am nothing more than a delivery boy and chauffeur. Find your own goddamn way home. By the way, I managed to kill two of the demons with just a knife and no powers. How did you do," Xander said and got in his car. He started up the car and drove away, leaving the three in his dust.

On the way home, Xander cussed Buffy and the others out something fiercely. He had had it with Buffy's and the others' attitudes. He did not deserve to be treated as a servant. He had seen the distance between them grow over the past year and knew that eventually they would push him away. They were going their way and he would have to find his way on his own.

He made it home and found Anya waiting for him in his room, naked and horny. She had rented a couple of videos the other day and wanted to try out a few new things and positions. Xander, being a guy with a more than healthy libido, did not turn the ex-demon down. He did enjoy the physicality of it, especially when Anya wanted to try something called "The Rocket Sled." However, afterwards, once the sex-glow had worn off, he was left feeling empty. All it was was sex, nothing emotionally fulfilling or sustaining. A part of him felt like shit because he knew deep down, he was just using Anya and she was using him.

Afterwards, things got sour pretty quickly. Anya started talking about the guys she had cursed or screwed over during her time as the demon Anyanka.

"Anya, could you please not talk about other guys while we are in bed? How would you like it if I started talking about Cordy or Faith?" Xander said staring up at the beams and sub-flooring that made up his ceiling.

With that, Anya got all huffy. She yanked her clothes on and stormed out of the basement and out of his house. Apparently the gods decided that Xander was not to have any peace in his life today.

Fuck.

A/N: Thanks for reading and as always, read and review.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I'm only borrowing the characters of BTVS and any Kindred characters that may turn up in this chapter. I promise to return them once I am done abusing them, so please don't sue.

I know that I am sounding like a Buffy hater in this story. I don't necessarily hate the character of Buffy; I just like the character of Xander more. Also, I chose to have the character Emily use 'Alex' instead of Xander to show a different life/world out there for Xander and to allow the character to grow up a bit. Xander seems to me, a cute nickname, more of a childhood name and Alex is a grownup name. By using Xander, in my warped little mind, he his kept in a perpetual state of immaturity. If my name were Susan, I know professionally I would hate to be known as Suzie. I would want a grownup name to be used instead of a childhood-family name. This is just IMO, of course. Anyway, thanks to those that took the time to review, I genuinely appreciate it. To those that put me on their alert lists, double thank you – it truly brought a smile to my face. Finally, thanks to those that decided to read my story; it's nice that you took the time to do that.

One other thing... **/Blah blah blah/** is to designate the other end of a phone conversation.

Warning: Potty mouth galore; as my husband likes to say: I have the face of an angel and the mouth of a sailor. Gotta love the guy…

Chapter 4

Xander decided that by Tuesday it had been long enough to try and call Emily without coming off as an obsessive weirdo. Unfortunately, all he got was her voicemail. However, he sucked it up and left a message for her to call him back, thus leaving it in her court, whether or not it was worth finding out if there was the potential of something existing between them.

The next day at work was uneventful. A crew member didn't show up, so after calling the man's home and not getting a response, Xander made a call to the city's morgue office. He had been on first name basis for one of the attendants for a couple of years now. Luck was on his side and Jerome "Jerry" Carter was the one to pick up the phone.

"Jerry, it's Harris," he said into the phone, one finger pressed to his opposite ear, trying to block out the noise of the construction site.

/Harris, what's up?/ Jerry replied.

"Has the body of Lewis Sanjay shown up at the morgue?"

There was a pause, then a heavy sigh. /Maybe. The cops brought in, late last night, a white male, in his late thirties to early forties, heavy set, brown hair, brown eyes. He had no id on him. Does this sound like your guy?/

Xander sighed. Lewis had been a pretty decent guy. He showed up on time, did quality work, and has a love of Star Wars that rivaled his own. "Yeah, that sounds like him. He doesn't have any family. Do you need someone to come in and identify him? How did he die?"

/Are you asking if he was killed by a gang on PCP?/ Jerry asked, well aware of what truly went on in Sunnydale, but powerless to get other city officials to acknowledge the truth.

"Of course," Xander said, bitterness creeping into his voice. "Gangs can be very vicious. They have odd ways of killing people and doing something with the victim's blood."

/Two puncture wounds to the neck,/ Jerry confirmed. /Whether or not he ends up joining up with his attackers, I don't know. You want to come in and make an official id?/

"Yeah, I'll be by after work okay? I gotta go tell the boss that we're short a man today. I'll see you then," Xander finished and shut off the phone.

"Fuck!" he raged. Not only another innocent person's life had been claimed by the god-forsaken Hellmouth, he was down a man when the project was already behind schedule.

-xoxoxoxoxo-

That night he made a stop at the morgue and positively identified the body as belonging to Lewis Sanjay. His next act was to slam a wooden stake through the animated corpse's heart, thus ending the demon's free ride in his former crew member's body.

As he was casually brushing the dust off his shirt, ignoring the look of surprise and horror on Jerry's face, his cell phone rang. Gritting his teeth, quietly praying to God that it wasn't Buffy or Willow, he looked at the LED screen and saw that caller was unknown and from out of the area.

"Hello?"

/Alex?/ a familiar female voice asked. /This is Emily./

Immediately, Xander brightened up. "Emily! It's great to hear from you." He looked at Jerry and nodded his thanks and left the attendant in the cold and now dusty room. "How are you?"

/Good, things are good. How are you doing?/ she inquired.

"Oh you know," he replied without really saying anything.

/You sound terrible. What's wrong?/ she pressed, concern evident in her voice.

"A guy on my crew was killed the other night, which was bad enough, but it made for a long day at work. Also my friends are acting like major assholes once again," Xander said, not wanting to dump his problems on her, but it was nice to have someone willing to listen to him.

/Sunnydale has such a violent reputation. Why do you still live there?/ Emily asked, hoping that he wasn't dead set on staying on the Hellmouth. She really did like him and had felt a connection with him that she hadn't felt with anybody. He got her jokes, liked the same music as her, hell – he even liked the conservatory. That alone counted for a lot in her opinion.

"You know about Sunnydale's reputation?" Xander asked.

/Not a whole lot, but I read somewhere that it has the highest murder rate for a city it's size. A lot of gangs too,/ she added, lying about her knowledge about it actually being on top of a gateway to Hell.

"Yeah, gangs," Xander half laughed. "I stay because I guess its home. My parents are here. Granted they aren't the best parents, but I hate the thought of leaving them here to fend for them selves."

/What about your friends? Why are you on the outs with them?/

Xander sighed. "They somehow haven't let me grow up in their minds. My friend Willow, whom I've known since kindergarten, still sees me as the little kid that shared his crayons with her. My other friend Buffy," Xander said but was interrupted by Emily's laughter.

/Buffy? Are you fucking kidding me? Her parents actually named her that? She's a California cliché,/ Emily gasped between shrieks of laughter.

Xander couldn't help it, Emily's laughter was contagious. "Yeah, but her real name is Elizabeth. Don't know when she decided to go by Buffy. Anyway, Buffy still sees me as the naïve sixteen year old she first met back in our sophomore year. She always has to be right, even if she is wrong, even if it gets everyone in serious trouble. To them, and everyone else it seems, I can't take care of myself, despite the fact that I am still alive after everything we've been through, I have a good job that I actually enjoy, and I seem to be the one to pull everyone's ass out of the fire time and time again. I'm tired of having to kiss her ass just because she's Buffy."

Emily thought carefully before replying. She didn't want to bash Xander's friends (though they did not seem to actually be his friends), but she didn't want to candy coat things either. /You don't deserve to be taken for granted. You deserve respect, the same as anyone else./

"I agree. When I came back from San Francisco, I had to stop by Giles's place; Giles is another friend by the way, to give him a book that he needed for his research. That's why I was up there to begin with. Giles had gotten a book from a dealer there and he didn't trust the mail to deliver it, so I was sent as the messenger for the group. Anyway, when I got there, they started bitching at me for not being considerate and wasting time. Not once did they ask how I was, how my trip was. Well, Tara asked. She's Willow's girlfriend and a very nice person to boot."

Alex, are you sure that you staying there is worth it? Can't you get your parents to move to a better, less violent town? These people don't seem to care about you.

"Maybe, I don't know," he hedged. In reality, he had been thinking about moving away for quite a while, well before his weekend trip to see Larry.

/You can always find another job. I know that there are lots of construction jobs up here,/ she said.

"Not that you're prejudiced or anything," Xander laughed. "What about you? Why San Francisco? Why don't you leave? Do you love the city that much?"

/I'm trying to finish up my degree in botany at UCSF and I have a few obligations here to a couple of people. I'm not ready to leave just yet. I really do like the city. I was born and raised in Kansas, but San Francisco has become my home,/ she explained.

Listening to her talk, lying on his bed, Xander felt himself smiling. He voice alone was enough to lift his spirits. She was removed from the Scooby gang, reminding him that there was life beyond vampires, demons, and the like.

They talked for about an hour before Emily brought up the idea of him visiting the city again. She had told him that Sunnydale had too violent of a reputation and it made her too nervous to even think about coming down there. In reality, Sunnydale was pretty much off limits to all members of the Masquerade. Hellmouths were the dominion of the Primorial Clan.

Xander secretly did not want Emily to come down to Sunnydale. The dangers caused by the Hellmouth were not something that he wanted to expose Emily to. Plus, he liked the idea of having something separate from Sunnydale, separate from the Scooby gang.

"Well, I have to work on Saturday, so this weekend is pretty much up shit's creek. I should have next weekend off," Xander said. "I probably could even get part of Friday off."

/That would be great. And you don't have to worry about a place to stay. I promise to behave myself if you want to stay at my apartment./

"I, um, I, well," Xander was not sure of what to say. He didn't want to push himself on her and he didn't want her to think that she was nothing but a booty call.

/If I didn't want you to stay at my place, I wouldn't have offered Alex,/ she chided him softly.

They talked some more, then Emily had to go. Xander promised to call her again, later in the week. Once they had both hung up, Xander was left with a rare, happy feeling in his chest. A girl he liked, a normal girl he reminded himself, invited him to stay with _her_ at _her_ place for a weekend visit. Things were definitely looking up.

-xoxoxoxoxo-

"So what are our plans for the weekend? Are we going to shake things up and go Bronzing?" Buffy asked, sarcasm dripping from her tongue. There just wasn't a whole lot to do in Sunnydale, especially in the summer.

"Ooh! The Bronze, that sounds good," Willow said with her usual enthusiasm, supporting Buffy's declarations per usual. Tara just shrugged and nodded. Where Willow went, she was willing to follow along.

"Can't," Xander said, looking up from the book he had open in front of him. They were currently at Buffy's house, in the middle of a research mode that had them looking up information concerning biforns.

"Why not?" Buffy pouted, knowing that all she had to do was use her sad face and Xander would come.

"Going to San Francisco tomorrow afternoon," he explained with a hint of irritation in his voice. He knew what Buffy was trying to do. "I told you guys my plans earlier. I have a three o'clock flight from Sunnydale Airport."

"But Xan, we need you here," Buffy sulked. "What about patrolling?"

"Yeah, so? Half the time you don't want me there. Plus you got Riley to help you. Now that I have something else to do, you want me here. Whatever," Xander said, exasperated, slamming his heavy tome shut.

"But Xander, San Francisco is far away and really big. It's not safe," Willow chimed in, using her resolve face to convince him to stay.

"Won't work Wills," he said, looking at her with annoyance.

"But what's so important in San Francisco that you have to blow us off for?" Buffy demanded. She couldn't see why Xander would want to be somewhere else. Besides, she thought, he's only get hurt or in trouble.

"I'm going to meet a friend, hang out, and see the sites. Have fun even," he said. "And I can watch out for myself in the big city. I don't need a babysitter. I am entitled to have my own life that doesn't revolve around the craziness that is Sunnydale and the almighty Slayer." At this point he realized that he was yelling at the girls. It pissed him off that they thought that they were his bosses and treated him as if he were a chud or something.

"You need to calm down Xander," Willow began but Xander cut her off.

"Fuck off, all of you, well not you Tara, my apologies. I am sick of you two," he glared at Buffy and Willow, "acting like I'm too retarded to even tie my own shoes. I make my own decisions, not you."

With that he grabbed his keys off the kitchen table and stormed out of the house. He was super pissed at the girls treating him like they did. Right now he wanted to kill something, or at least hit something really hard.

As a result, he drove out to one of Sunnydale's cemeteries. Once there, he managed to work out some of his anger and frustrations.

"Mother fucking assholes! Why the fuck to you guys even bother?" he ground out as he pummeled one unfortunate vampire.

"Christ! Stake me already," the vampire whimpered, spitting out several teeth.

Xander stopped what he was doing and looked down at his bloody and battered victim. "Shit! I'm sorry. I'm just pissed and I got carried away."

"No fucking shit! What the hell crawled up your ass?' the vamp asked, trying to get his wits about him as he tried to put himself upright with the aid of a handy large tombstone.

"I'm sick of my friends and their shitty attitude. I told them that I was going to San Francisco and they got all pissy," Xander said, also sitting down on another tombstone near-by the vamp.

"San Francisco huh? Cool town, though it's a Kindred city. My kind aren't overly welcome there."

"What's a Kindred?"

"Kindred are vampires, but they have souls. Well, technically the Brujah have souls, but they're still a bunch of assholes. Also, Kindred can be out in the sun. They are an organized and clannish bunch and don't like my kind very much. They aren't evil, destroy all life on earth, kind but they aren't a dark and lonely Anne Rice creation. I will say that they can be full of themselves though and are way too into the whole secrecy thing."

Xander rolled his eyes. "So if secrecy is such a big thing, then why are you telling me anything about them?"

The vampire shrugged his shoulders and grinned. "Doesn't make much of a difference since I'll be draining you dry soon enough."

Before he could continue with his bragging, there was a sharp pain in his chest that caused him to look down. A wooden stake was sticking out of his chest where his heart was, with Xander holding the non-pointed end to keep it from turning into dust.

"Fuck," was all the vampire could say before crumbling to dust.

"Not too bright," Xander observed. "But weirdly enough, I feel better." And he did feel better. Whistling a jaunty tune, he left the graveyard and headed for home to do some packing.

A/N: Thanks for reading, and if you feel so inclined, hit the shiny review button. Cheers!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I don't own any recognizable BTVS or KTE characters. Please don't sue me and I promise to return them to their rightful owners pretty much unharmed. Any original characters that make an appearance are mine to use and abuse as I please.

This is a long chapter. I probably could have broken it up a bit but I didn't, so have some patience with the length and me. Thank you to those that took the time to review. It was very nice of you to do so. Also, thank you to those that put me on their lists of alerts or favorites (that one I really don't deserve, but I appreciate it none the less). Sorry that this was a day later than I anticipated. I had a horrible day at work (a kid vomited all over the place, paperwork over due, tests to be written, and some jackass actually wanted to start a fight with me in the parking lot of Taco Bell) and just couldn't get the energy up to post it. Thanks for the patience – not that the world is depending on me posting my crap ).

Have a leap of faith with how I've worked the plot. I know realistically, most adults today wouldn't "get together' as quickly as I had Emily and Xander get it on, but hey, they're young, frisky, and it moves the plot along. Plus, things happen and people do end up sleeping with each other fairly quickly in a relationship these days. So just go with it and try not to think about it too much.

Warning: Potty language and mentioning of adult situations, but not explicitly.

Chapter 5

His flight was smooth and short. He waited until the seatbelt sign was turned off to grab his duffle bag from the overhead compartment, and then joined the throng of people push and shoving their way out of the airplane. He walked down the ramp from the plane to the airport, quickly leaving the gated area, not bothering to stop at the baggage area since everything he thought he would need he kept in his carry-on.

Once outside of the secured area, he started to scan the area, looking for Emily. A sudden squeal off too one side and a sudden near-tackle announced Emily's arrival (or perhaps San Francisco was much more forward than the tourist booklets claimed).

"You made it," Emily laughed, giving Xander a warm hug.

Xander smiled and hugged her back, inhaling her familiar scent, happy to see her once again. He noticed that she seemed colder than most people, but, he reasoned, they were in an air conditioned environment and Emily since was standing in a ray of sunshine; logic would say that she wasn't a vampire. All was right with the world, as far as Xander was concerned.

"Seeing you, right now, is the best thing in the world," he said into Emily's hair, happy to have her in his arms and his arms around her.

Emily led him to the parking lot where her car, a metallic light blue Toyota Camry, sat. They threw his bag onto the back seat and climbed in. On the way to her apartment, Emily pointed out famous landmarks and points of interest to Xander, playing the knowledgeable tourist guide.

Her apartment was located in the heart of San Francisco at the Fillmore Center. The place looked expensive to Xander, but it wasn't like he was going to complain that Emily had an infinitely nicer home that he did.

Emily lived on the sixth floor in a one bedroom apartment. It was sparsely furnished and decorated, with a couch, coffee table, and entertainment center in the living room with a fireplace, a desk and computer where a kitchen table should have been, and two doors leading off from a short hallway, which Xander supposed were the bedroom and bathroom.

The walls were painted a soft taupe color and left bare. There were a couple of photos on the fireplace's mantle of Emily and some others, clearly enjoying themselves at a party. Overall, it was spartan, but due to the small size of the apartment, it did not feel empty.

"The bedroom is the farthest door. Put your stuff in there, if you want," Emily offered.

"I don't want to take your bedroom away from you," Xander replied, hoping that that was the right thing to say. He did not want to come off as someone only looking to getting laid.

"You won't," Emily said, a small smile on her lips. She knew what she wanted, but didn't want to come off as a tramp. "I thought we could go out to eat, since I don't have much food here," she said, switching to a less touchy topic. "There's a really cool restaurant down the street I thought you'd like. They serve all kinds of food, from Mexican to Italian."

"That sounds nice, but I insist on being allowed to pay," he said, being the gentleman.

"Nope, I got this one. You're my guest and will be treated as such."

Xander, seeing the resolve look on Emily's face, decided to let it go and wrangle over the bill at a later time. Besides, it wasn't often that a woman offered to pay for his meal. Come to think of it, Anya or Cordelia had never offered to even split the cost of a meal, movie tickets, or anything else.

Once his stuff was put away, they left her building and walked down the street, not holding hands, but close to each other, slightly brushing each other's arm. Whatever had caused their initial attraction to each other was back, setting off an almost electrical charge between them. Something, they could tell, was clicking between them.

At the restaurant, which was pretty casual, Xander held the door open for Emily and also her chair too. It was kind of old fashioned of him, but Xander wanted to treat her like a lady.

Dinner was nice, though Xander noticed how little Emily ate. She didn't look like the type to be anorexic, but sometimes you could never tell. He made a comment about it and Emily laughed and mentioned that she had had a big lunch earlier, though she did order a sinfully delicious slice of French Silk pie. When Xander jokingly made an attempt to steal a bite from her, she playfully stabbed his hand with her fork and told him to get his own.

"The two things I don't share," she said laughing, "are boyfriends and pie."

Xander smiled. "Understood perfectly ma'am," he said giving her a sloppy salute and returned to his dessert of German Chocolate Cake.

After dessert, Emily suggested that they go to a bar where some of her friends hung out. She promised that it wasn't a dance club, nor was it a dive. Also, it was a place where it didn't matter if they were minors (since she had told him that she was twenty also). Once Xander agreed, they went back to her apartment building to get her car since the place they were going was several miles away.

She wasn't going to take him to the Haven. It was too soon for that, she wasn't sure if Alex could handle being immediately thrust into the Kindred world and not react badly. Plus, she did not want to have to deal with the preening and false civility that existed at the haven. She would rather be in a Gangrel bar, but one where she would feel comfortable at while she introduced him to Cash. As a result, they would be going to Shanahan's, a semi-biker's bar that many Gangrels, along with oblivious humans, frequented.

Cash, the Primogen of the Gangrel clan in San Francisco, sat at the bar, drinking a Budweiser, watching two other Gangrels, Lonnie and Paul, play a crappy-ass game of pool. Neither of them was any good, but it gave them something to do while they waited for Emily to arrive with her human friend. Lonnie, Paul, Emily and himself had all been brought into the clan at about the same time, so it made sense that together they would see for themselves whether or not this new human was worthy of Emily and the Gangrel clan.

Cash, taking time off from his role as the bodyguard of Julian, was asserting his role as Primogen of the Gangrel clan. He had assumed the role when Stevie Ray, the previous Primogen, had been slaughtered by the Brujah at the behest of the clan living in San Francisco. It was a role that he did not particularly enjoy. Stevie Ray, his sire as well as the sire of many of the Gangrel in the city, had been better suited to the job. While he could appreciate the difficult job Julian had at keeping the peace in the city between the clans and making sure that the Masquerade survived, he found himself many times angered at Julian's lack of effectively dealing with the hated Brujah that constantly broke the rules and threatened the Masquerade. Stevie Ray had the temperament to put it all into a perspective that he sometimes lacked.

However, Stevie Ray was dead and nothing could be done to change that fact. So instead, he was at the bar, waiting for Emily - another former street kid like him, also embraced by Stevie Ray.

Emily Larkin, a former street kid, had been embraced soon after Cash. She had run away from home, a home that had been abusive. While she had regretted leaving behind her younger brother, her older sister had promised that she would look after the boy and see to it that he would not be harmed by their violent mother and father. Jessica was ten years older than Emily, out of the house and could support the young boy in their native town of McPherson, Kansas. Emily wanted out, away from her parents and away from her dead-end hometown, but promised to check in with Jessica to let her know that she was okay. After the Embrace, she wrote a letter to her sister and brother letting them know that she was okay, but had ended the connection after that. It was easier, she had been told, to leave her human past behind her and accept her Kindred life. Once she had done that, she did some jobs for Stevie Ray (Luna paying the bills), giving her the financial freedom and stability that she enjoyed. The money was good and she didn't mind doing the dirty work that was sometimes required to keep the peace in the city.

But now she wanted something for herself. She wanted Alex (she refused to refer to him as Xander) and she wanted Cash's help in convincing Luna that this human was worthy of being one of them. Of course it all hinged on whether or not the human would accept being Embraced or not.

Eventually the Gangrel and human in question walked through the door. The place was poorly lit, but Cash, Lonnie, and Paul had little trouble making out the human by Emily's side.

Cash quickly sized him up: Tall, dark carried himself with an ease that belied his youth. He also noticed a wildness that clung to him; it was almost as if he was already a Gangrel and hadn't noticed it yet.

Xander, looking around, took in the bar, pool tables, and several tough characters decorating the place. He whispered to Emily, to remind her that he was only nineteen, not old enough to legally be there. She murmured that it was alright, that no one was going to question his age or his right to be there.

Secretly he was glad that he had left his collection of loud Hawaiian shirts back in Sunnydale, settling for a simple, fitted black tee-shirt, jeans, and boots. He didn't want to continue being clown-Xander, but seen as someone that was finally emerging into adulthood, someone that should be taken seriously.

"Cash," Emily called out, smiling fondly as she saw her friend and Gangrel Primogen sitting at the bar. She brought Xander over to meet the man, for this was the purpose of them being there.

"Cash, this is Alex Harris. Alex, this is Cash. Also, over by the table are Lonnie and Paul," she said, trying to hide any trace of anxiety in her voice. She really wanted Cash to like the human enough to help her convince Luna to allow an Embrace.

Cash looked him over, not smiling, but not being unfriendly either. He was sizing up the human, judging him for worthiness of becoming one of them. He noted how the Harris kid stood, how he shook his hand. He also noted that there was something about Harris that did not mark him as a normal, regular, everyday human. There was a wilder, animalistic nature that was hovering just beneath the surface. There was also something else, something that reminded him of Daedelus. It was vague, but Cash wondered if the kid had some sort of magical talent that was unknown to the human or somehow blocked. Either way, Cash thought, the kid was interesting.

"So," Cash began, handing Xander a bottle of Budweiser, "tell me about yourself. Em says that you're from Sunnydale; rough place. What do you do down there?"

Xander felt as he was being interviewed. "Yeah, Sunnydale has an interesting reputation. I graduated from school over a year ago. I work in construction now which keeps me pretty busy."

"No extra-curricular activities?" Cash asked, laughing, but in reality it was a serious question. He had done some checking earlier, making a few calls down to LA, then Sunnydale. He knew about the truth behind Sunnydale's reputation, that the town was infested by Primordial vampires and was sitting atop a Hellmouth.

Cash had also made a few discoveries about Alex "Xander" Harris. The youth, over the past four years had developed a reputation of being a nasty, dirty, mean as-all-shit fighter. He had helped take down several infamous Primordial vampires, demons, and the like, all without the advantage of mystical super powers.

"I was on the swim team for awhile in high school," Xander offered. He wasn't entirely sure as to what this Cash guy was getting at, instinct told him to not reveal anything about vampires, demons, or slayers. While he might be pissed at the Scooby gang, he wasn't going to sell Buffy, or even Faith, out to a stranger.

"Just curious as to what you guys do for fun down in Sunnydale. The town does have a reputation for a high death rate and a lot of gang activity," Cash said, while the two men, Lonnie and Paul, looked on in silence.

"There's not a lot to the town. We have one club, a few bars, the high school burnt to the ground last year, and there is a college in town. I mostly work, hang out with friends, and help out with some research when I can," he explained.

"I see," Cash said, realizing that he wasn't going to get much from the human. That in its self spoke a lot for his character, in Cash's opinion. The kid obviously knew when to keep his mouth shut about the oddities in his life and didn't feel a need to brag. Though, Cash though, the Harris kid had plenty to brag about.

Through his informant, he had been told of a story when Harris had tracked a man down after the guy had sacrificed another person to save his sorry ass from some demon that he owed money. Harris caught up to the guy in a bar and beat the living piss out of the guy in front of an entire room of demons, primordials, and other worthless creatures. When he had finished, the guy was a drooling vegetable. Only one demon objected to Harris' actions in a demon bar. Harris then killed the demon that was stupid enough to say anything without even blinking.

Beyond that incident, Cash had been told, Harris was a mean bastard but loyal to a fault and willing to do what ever it took to get the job done. The kid had it in him to do the dirty work that others could not or would not be willing to do.

This made him someone that could be useful to the Gangrels and the Masquerade. The only question was whether or not Harris would be able to handle the idea of the Kindred; not all vampires were like the demons of Sunnydale. Cash, however, had a plan for that.

They sat at the bar and drank, though Xander was careful to watch how much he actually consumed. He didn't drink all that much, so his tolerance was pretty low and he didn't want to make himself out to be a total jackass in front of Emily's friends. Xander also knew that alcoholism ran in his family, on both sides, so he was careful about drinking because of that. He was amazed at how much Cash and his friends could drink and remain upright. Emily too, he noted, had an extremely high tolerance for alcohol.

It was getting late when Xander noticed that most of the bar's patron's had left. The only people left in the bar, besides their group, was a tired bartender and two guys, one old and one young, sitting at the bar itself. The older man looked like he was semi-passed out, barely seated upright in his stool, while the younger man sat hunched down in his chair, looking around furtively, as if he were expecting something to happen soon.

Xander, who was standing closest to the man, holding a pool cue, for they had been playing pool badly for the past hour, glanced at the man, but largely ignored him.

With a quick look at Cash, who discreetly nodded, decided now was the time for a little fun. He knew what Cash and the others were, including the human with them and the two at the bar. Cash had caught him earlier in the day, and struck a deal with him. He wouldn't turn him over to the Prince, if he would come to a certain bar and start a little trouble around midnight. He didn't really get it, since his kind and the stick-up-their-collective-asses-Kindred did not get along, but he was promised a free meal in the process. Sounded like a pretty good deal to him.

He stood up, stretched and put his game-face on (the 'I'm a demon who's going to suck you dry' face). The Primordial grabbed the barely conscious human next to him and sank his fangs into the human's neck, beginning to drink him dry.

Xander, who couldn't help but hear the man's screams in terror and pain, whipped his head around to see the source of the commotion. He glanced over at the others, but they seemed to be frozen, unable to react.

_Fuck,_ he thought. _I get away from Sunnydale and I still manage to find a fucking vampire._

Sighing, he snapped the pool cue over his knee, thankful it was made out of wood and not cheap-ass plastic. Dragging all of the soldier memories and hyena instincts he could to the forefront, he then grabbed the vamp by the shoulder and pulled the demon away from the human.

Blood dripping from his chin, the vampire snarled and swung at the person daring to interrupt his feast.

Xander, acting on instinct ducked and slammed the broken off end of the pool cue into the demon's heart.

The monster looked down at the wooden stake sticking out of his chest, looked over at Cash in disbelief before disintegrating into a cloud of dust. Just before he exploded, Xander could have sworn the vampire muttered "but you said I could," as he looked over at Emily and her friends.

He looked over at the others who were staring openly at him, neither in surprise or shock. If he were a betting man, he would have almost said it was a look of approval. "Um, fuck," was all Xander could manage to say before the human that had been attacked started screaming along with the frightened bartender (the man was a member of the Herd, but he had never seen something like that before).

Cash smiled faintly. "Lonnie, Paul, go take care of the human. Get him to a hospital, but make sure he doesn't remember any of this. George," he said, speaking to the bartender, "you didn't see a thing. You understand? Go work on your books in the back. The bar is closed for the night." There was a trace of menace in Cash's voice that did not allow for any sort of argument.

Once it was only Cash, Emily, and Xander in the bar, Cash reached behind the bar and pulled three bottles from the cooler and handed one to Emily and Xander. "Have a seat," Cash said, but came off as an order.

Xander, feeling slightly distrustful of Cash, Emily a bit too come to think of it, glared, but complied. He was confused as to why none of them: Cash, Emily, Lonnie, or Paul had freaked out when the vampire attacked the human at the bar. Most humans tended to scream, cry, and run away when scary things happened. None of them even blinked. It was almost as if they expected it.

_Oh fuck, they're vampires_, Xander mentally screamed, but then suddenly reminded himself that he had seen Emily several times out in the sunlight, not combusting into a ball of flame. _What the fuck was going on here_, he asked himself.

To help him figure this out, he pushed his soldier memories away and concentrated fully on them with his hyena instincts. He took a tentative sniff, filtering out the rankness of the bar, drawing on their particular scent. He knew that vampire, werewolves, and certain (not talking about the obviously stinky variety kind here) demons had faint, but detectable scents. He could not smell anything familiar.

"Okay, so what the fuck is going on here? You didn't even blink when I dusted that vamp. What the fuck," Xander demanded his eyes dark and suspicious. It pissed him off too, for he had really fallen for Emily and now to come to find out, she was hiding something big, he was sure of it. _Must be my famous Harris luck making its presence known,_ he thought, embittered.

"I did some checking on you Harris. Emily here came to me, telling me about this guy she had met; a human from Sunnydale that she felt an incredible attraction to. She said that you were different, that while you were human, there was something about you that seemed familiar. Emily is my blood sister and I wasn't about to let her get involved with some strange human, especially one from Sunnydale, without checking you out. Know what I found out?"

"No telling," Xander said, feeling pissed, used, and nervous at the same time. He purposefully ignored the looks that Emily was giving him. He didn't want to look at her and immediately understand and forgive her for whatever in the hell was going on.

"Word has it that you've been fighting vampires, demons, and the like since you were a sophomore in high school at the Slayer's side. You also have a reputation for being incredibly ruthless and unremorseful, doing the dirty work while your friends keep their hands and souls clean."

"So you know about Sunnydale. Fine, it's over run with vampires and not gangs on PCP, you know the big secret. How do you know and why the hell do you know? Most humans can't handle the truth that there are things that go bump in the night. Unless," Xander took a deep breath knowing that this would probably be his last, "you're not human yourselves."

Emily, at least looked apologetic.

"No. We're Kindred. I know you don't know what that means," cash began but was interrupted.

"Ah shit! You're vampires," Xander said.

"We prefer the term Kindred," Cash said. "I take it you've hear of us before."

"You're the vampires with souls. I only heard about you guys this week. I was in one of the graveyards on patrol, beating the shit out of some vampire as a form of therapy and he told me about you guys before I staked him. So you really have souls?" Xander said, relaxing somewhat. For some reason, once he had a name to the oddness that was around him, it comforted him.

"I assure you, we do have souls. Doesn't this freak you out in the least bit?" Cash asked, looking at him as if he were a bit off.

"It does but, come on; you know where I grew up. Weirdness is like an every day occurrence there. The first vampire I killed was my best friend Jesse. Ever since then, weird has become normal. So how come you guys have souls and the ones in Sunnydale don't? And what's up with you being out in the sun?" he asked Emily.

Emily looked at the Gangrel Primogen for permission to explain what the Kindred were. Receiving a nod she began. "The vampires you've known in your hometown are called Primordial by us. As you know they are demons inhabiting a human body, feeding off other humans for their blood, we are not demons, just a different breed than humanity. We do drink blood, but we don't need to kill to feed and we don't require that much blood to survive. However, we are organized into a society that is purposefully hidden from human eyes. We believe, for the most part, in discretion and secrecy. We have rules, are organized into clans, and are governed by a Prince when we live in a city controlled by the Camarilla, which maintains the Masquerade. The Masquerade is basically the law that governs us: Humans are to remain ignorant of our kind at all costs."

"So why are you telling me? I'm human after all," Xander said sarcasm in his voice. _Damn_, he thought. He had really fallen for Emily; saw himself spending his life with her, but now this.

"Before we explain that, why don't you tell us about you?" Cash asked. "My informant was quite versed in your happenings, but he didn't explain everything. Why don't you seem fully human yourself? There is something that is slightly off about you."

Xander briefly debated not telling them anything, but it really didn't seem to matter anymore. "Within the past four years, I've been possessed twice. Once by the spirit of a soldier on Halloween and a hyena spirit my sophomore year. I still have traces of those possessions in me. I have memories and knowledge of tactics, weapons, and other military stuff from the soldier possession in my head. I also have a heightened sense of smell and some weirder instincts left over from my time as a hyena. So why are you telling me this? I thought secrecy was your thing?" Xander leaned back in his chair and pulled a long draw from his bottle. If he was going to be someone's dinner, he might as well enjoy the beer.

Emily looked over at Cash anxiously. He nodded at her. "I already talked to Luna. He said it would be okay, depending on how tonight's little test went and how our talk went."

Emily smiled, but still looked apprehensive.

"Mind cluing me in? You guys might haw your own vampire Esperanza language, but for those of us not in the know, how about some clarification, please," Xander said, looking exasperated. If they were going to try to kill him, he wished they would get it on with. He didn't have all night after all.

"Emily has asked me to offer to you the chance to be embraced," Cash said formally, looking at Xander square in the eyes, dropping all pretenses of being human.

"What does Embraced mean?" Xander asked, curious. These Vampires were quite different from the annoying ones in Sunnydale, even Captain Forehead.

"Cash is offering you the chance to become Kindred, to join the Gangrel clan. There are other clans, but you seem too much like us to be a member of another. God forbid you would join the fucking Brujah," she gently explained. "Nothing personal against Sasha Cash," she added.

"There are other clans? What makes the Gangrel so special," Xander asked, surprising him self that he hadn't turned them down flat.

"Yes, there are several other clans within the Kindred race. The Gangrels are the gypsies of the Kindred and have ties to both the Gypsies and the Garou. We are considered to be somewhat wilder than the others. We don't care too much for the other races, especially the Brujah. If we live in the city at all, we work in construction or other similar jobs, stuff that connects us to the earth. Also, we are sometimes the Prince's enforcers, charged with the task of making sure the Masquerade is maintained.

"Lately we've noticed an increase in the non-Kindred population. It's not just the Primordial vampires, but also various demons that are making the Masquerade more and more difficult. Before it was just making sure other Kindred followed the laws and keeping the peace between the clans, now it feels totally out of control," Cash said, running a hand through his already wild, short hair.

"So why do you want me?" Xander asked, not seeing where this was going. "You guys are the ones with the super powers, you don't need me."

"Alex,' Emily said, laying a hand gently on his arm, relieved that the human didn't flinch away from her touch, "we could really use your experience in dealing with this mess. Plus, I do care about you very much and you virtually scream Gangrel. You belong with us. You don't belong in Sunnydale, especially after what you've told me about your friends. They obviously don't respect you or your contributions to their fight. You can easily get a job in construction up here if you want. Also, we could be together," she said the last part with a hopeful tone in her voice.

"Think about it Harris. You don't have to give me an answer tonight. There's going to be a Dyad Moon part out in the desert tomorrow night, well, actually tonight. You can give me your answer then," he corrected himself as he looked at his watch and got up to leave.

Emily quietly thanked him and then looked at Xander with a look of apprehension. She hadn't been honest with him from the start and she was worried that he was mad at her.

"I'm sorry Alex. I should have been honest with you, but I wasn't sure of how you would react. This is pretty heavy stuff. I mean, how do you tell some that you're a, well not to use the crude term but anyways, a vampire?" Emily asked. "Are you mad at me?"

Xander sat quietly for a minute, thinking it over in his head. No, he wasn't mad at her, she couldn't help be who she was. She still had her soul (he had seen her reflection in the mirror behind the bar), had treated him way better than his friends from back home, and even admitted to having feelings for him. It wasn't her fault that she was bound by the laws of her society. "No, I'm not. Can I ask how old you are?"

Emily smiled. "I was embraced in 1992 at the age of twenty, which makes me the ripe old age of thirty-four, but I don't look it."

"Do you enjoy being a, um, what was it again?" Xander hesitated.

"Gangrel," she supplied, taking a sip from her beer.

"Do you enjoy it?"

"Yeah. When Stevie Ray found me, my sire, I had left my hometown two years prior, moved to San Francisco, and was pretty much homeless. I was hanging with a rough bunch and was pretty much on track to die young. Stevie Ray found me, took me in, got me off the drugs I was on, and gave me the chance at a new life. Due to him, I was able to do something productive and now I've even been able to go to school to study Botany. I wouldn't have been able to do any of this if I had remained human." She then got up and got them some more beer from the bar. There was a part of Xander that knew that this was a bad idea, but he really didn't care.

"No regrets," Xander asked when she came back to the table.

Emily smiled sadly. "There are always regrets, Alex. You can't escape that. People that say they have none are either socio-paths or liars."

They talked for a bit longer until the bartender timidly came out and asked Emily and Xander if he could close now. It was after three in the morning and he was tired.

Emily shrugged and stood up, not showing any effects of the alcohol she had consumed earlier. Xander decided it must be some sort of super Kindred metabolism. When he stood up, the room slowly spun and had to lean on the table for support.

Emily, seeing his predicament, swiftly threw his arm over her shoulders and helped him maneuver his way out of the bar. At the car, she propped him up against the vehicle while she dug her keys out of her pocket. Unfortunately, Xander couldn't even manage that and slid to the ground, landing hard on his butt.

Emily opened up the car and laughed as she helped him up.

"You promise not to take advantage of me," Xander slurred, allowing her to shove him into the passenger seat of the car.

"No," she said as she slid in behind the wheel. "I promise to take every advantage of you possible," she said and looked at him with a sly smile.

Xander sat back and allowed a sloppy grin to form on his face. He had a feeling he was going to enjoy this.

A/N: Go ahead and hit the shiny review button. You know you want to…)


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except original characters you may find. Please don't sue; I promise to return all BTVS and KTE characters when I am done.

A/N: Chi Vayne brought up a point about why Xander would become something he normally hates with a passion. I would argue that Kindred vampires are different, they have souls (at least in my world, I don't know about in the RPG), and he has fallen in love with Emily. Sometimes love makes you do the wacky (to paraphrase a BTVS line). Most likely I will deal with this in some way later on down the line. I do see his/her point, and I want to acknowledge that.

Thanks you to all that have taken the time to write a review. I lead a sad life when seeing a review sitting in my inbox kind of perks me up. Thank you to those that have put me on their alert lists and favorites; that's incredibly nice of you to do so. Finally, thank you to those that took the time to read my pile of crap.

Warnings: Some potty language, but not up to my usual standards. I must be slipping. There is a brief mention of nakedness and implied sexual encounters, but again, nothing graphic.

Chapter 6

The next day, Xander lifted his head from the pillow it was on and squinted at the alarm clock, trying to figure out what time it was. The green numbers flashed 12:00 over and over, as if the clock had been turned off at some point and the time hadn't been fixed. It was odd, he noted to himself, that his alarm clock would show green numbers when his had always been red.

He groaned and rolled over to see a ceiling that was plastered over instead of being made out of sub-flooring and rough wooden beam. He looked down and saw that he was in an unfamiliar bed and he was naked. _What the hell?_

From over by the doorway came a lilting laugh that sounded extremely familiar.

"I was starting to wonder if you were going to sleep all day," a voice spoke.

Xander lifted his head, mentally begged the room to stop moving, and saw the speaker. Emily. Everything in his brain realigned itself, allowing him to remember where he was, why he was there, and what had happened the night before.

"You okay?" Emily asked as she sat down on the bed.

Xander quickly pulled the bed sheet up over his lower half, trying to recover some of his dignity. "Yep, it's all gravy," he replied.

"What about last night? Are you okay after all that?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay with it. It's weird, I'll admit that, but what isn't weird in my life," he said with no hesitation.

"What about what Cash offered or is it too early for that?" Emily inquired, wanting a hint as to which way he was leaning. She lay down on the bed, lying close to him, also staring up at the ceiling.

Xander sighed heavily. "I don't know. A big part of me really wants to be with you," he said, stroking her hair softly. "It scared me though. I don't want to become like Captain Forehead. Plus I can't just disappear from my life in Sunnydale. My parents still live there, but also my friends would cause trouble for you if I were to up and vanish."

"First off, who and what is Captain Forehead?" Emily asked.

"Captain Forehead is Angel, who used to be Angelus before he was cursed by a tribe of gypsies for killing their favorite daughter. He got his soul back, plus he was forced to keep the memories of what Angelus did over the centuries. I guess it wasn't really fair to the guy to have that done to him, since it was the demon that was responsible for what happened, not the human whom the demon possessed."

"A primordial has a soul? Are you kidding me? That's unheard of," she exclaimed, looking at Alex in surprise.

"Yeah, he's a unique pain in the ass," he agreed. "Anyway, he came to Sunnydale, looking to help the Slayer in her quest or whatever. He did help us big time, but he and Buffy did the horizontal dance, he got a moment of happiness, lost his soul and became Angelus once again. He went from a brooding pain-in-the-ass to a murderously insane pain-in-the-ass. Luckily, he got his soul back, but not before we sent him straight to hell to stop a portal from Hell opening up. Willow did the re-ensouling thing, while I made sure Buffy would do what was necessary. I lied to her, told her that the spell wouldn't work. As a result, Buffy killed him and sent him to Hell, sealing the portal closed. I felt bad, but I had to make sure that Buffy wouldn't condemn the world because of her feelings for Angel. I honestly believe she would not have killed him if I hadn't lied to her."

"Damn! Do you guys ever have a normal moment down there? I mean, really," Emily exclaimed.

"There are very few normal moments. It's to the point where normalcy is abnormal. My high school graduation, supposedly one of the happiest events in a kid's life, got corn-holed because the mayor decided that he wanted to ascend to a true demon form during the ceremony. As a bonus for sitting through his lame speech, he was going to eat the seniors as a way to toast the moment."

"Well," Emily said, looking at him with rapt horror and fascination, "obviously it didn't work since you're sill here."

"Yeah, we blew up the school with the Mayor in it. A lot of people still died, but it wasn't the complete disaster it was supposed to be," Xander finished, sounding up.

"Christ in a bucket, Alex! Even if you don't want to join us, for the love of all, get the hell out of that town," Emily was aghast.

"What if I join you? Would you be the one to, um, what was that word again?"

"Embrace," Emily offered.

"Yeah, Embrace me. Would you be the one to do it?"

"No. As Gangrels, we don't bond as tightly with our progeny like the other clans. Generally, we make sure they know the rules, and then send them out into the world. If I were to embrace you, I would follow customs and we would not be able to be together. Cash would be the one to do it. Not only is he strong enough, but as the primogen of the clan, his progeny are more easily accepted within our ranks. Also, the primogen likes to have powerful allies within the clan and you are powerful Alex. Like we said last night, you virtually scream Gangrel; you just don't know it. Cash called me this morning to have me ask you if you have any magick abilities yourself," Emily asked, running her hand gently across his stomach.

"I've helped out in a couple of spells, but nothing on my own. I asked a witch on Valentine's Day to perform a love spell for me to get back my girlfriend, but it totally backfired," Xander cringed, thinking back to that icky moment where all of the female population, including Ms. Calendar and Buffy's mom, tried to put the moves on him.

Emily nodded, as if she expected something like that. "According to Daedelus, who's a member of the Nosferatu and actually a very gentle and kind soul, said that the Hellmouth was probably blocking any natural abilities that you may have. Others, like your friend Willow, who have discovered magic on top of the Hellmouth are probably not natural users of magick and are actually stealing energy from others and the Hellmouth without realizing it to power their spells. Daedelus says it's not a very healthy approach to magick and will burn them in the end. However, if you were to get away from the Hellmouth and purge its negative influences, he says that you could be pretty powerful."

"So does he want me too?" Xander asked, felling kind of flattered and bewildered at the same time. Nobody had ever really wanted him before and it felt nice, in an extremely weird way.

"Cash said that Daedelus said that while you would be a good addition to his clan, he is most reluctant to bring in new members. The Nosferatu are the least human like and look quiet scary. Think of the movie Nosferatu and you'll get a pretty good idea of how they can appear, well, only larger I guess and without the humpbacks and lurching. He says that it is a burden that very few are able to handle. Far as I know, the Gangrels are the only ones that have laid a claim to you. I am sure the Brujah would love to get their sweaty hands on you, but somehow they don't know about you. Damn, that makes me sad," Emily finished with obvious sarcasm in her voice.

"You don't like the Brujah I take it," Xander said, laughing in spite of himself. There was just something funny about the whole situation he decided. He was in love with a vampire – excuse me – Gangrel, had awesome sex with said Gangrel, and were discussing Kindred politics and whether or not he wanted to join up with the Gangrel.

"No, the Gangrel and the Brujah clans do not traditionally like each other. If it weren't for the Masquerade, we would happily rip each others' throats out. Think of it as the Bloods and the Crips with fangs."

Xander laughed out loud. "Jeez. Wow. That's a lot to take in, plus the alliterations are so illuminating. In the mean time, I need to pee and not to be the bad guest, I am kind of hungry. You think we could swing by a McDonalds or something?"

"Please, McDonalds is for peasants. Go take care of your business, grab a shower and we'll go down to Fisherman's Warf where one can find real food. I've always hated McDonalds, ever since I was a kid," she said as she sat up. She quickly pulled Xander to his feet, smiling wickedly, as she shoved him towards the bathroom. As soon as she heard the water running, she got an incredibly naughty idea and quickly stripped out of her jeans and tight t-shirt.

"I feel kind of dirty. Maybe a shower will help," she said as she stepped into the shower with Xander, much to his surprise and delight. They ended up not making it to Fisherman's Warf, and had to hit a McDonalds after all, but neither of them seemed to mind.

A/N: Thanks for reading, and please, go ahead and hit the shiny review button. You know you want to and I won't stand in your way…Cheers!


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

A/N: I don't own any recognizable BTVS or KTE characters. I promise to return them unharmed once I am done playing with them, so please don't sue.

Thank you to everyone that took the time to review; I really do enjoy hearing what you have to say about why I have the characters acting a certain way or what their motivations may be. To others that have reviewed: Even if you don't leave a long message, I do appreciate the fact that you took the time out to drop a note and lend support. To those that put me on alerts and lists of favorites, thank you. It feeds my ego just a bit and gives me a boost. Finally, thank you to those that have taken the time to stop by and read my story.

Warnings: Not too much to warn anyone about. I don't even know if I used any potty language in this one. Even if I did, it wasn't much. Something must be seriously wrong with me.

That night, they arrived at the Dyad Moon party held out in the desert. What Xander noticed first was the noise. The sound of motorcycles mixed with music blaring, an animal howling somewhere off in the distance, and voices everywhere. The next thing he noticed was the looming orange moon that appeared to hang low in the sky above the party.

Emily parked her car on the outskirts of the party, turned off the engine, and turned to face Xander. "Are you sure about this? Is this something that you want for yourself, rather than just for my sake?" she asked, concern on her face.

Xander nodded in the dark. "Yeah. I do want to be with you, but something is telling me that if I don't leave Sunnydale now, I'll never the place alive. Also, I know that this is the right decision."

Emily smiled, happy that Alex wanted to be with her. "Now all you have to do is tell Cash."

"Do you think he'll agree to my request of waiting a couple of weeks so I can get everything in order?" Xander asked, drumming his fingers nervously on the door of the car.

Emily shrugged. "Don't see why not. It makes sense in the long run. You ready?" she asked, a hopeful smile on her face.

Xander took a deep breath, prayed to whatever god was out there that he wouldn't make a complete ass out of himself, and nodded. _Here goes nothing_, he thought to him self.

They found Cash sitting on the lowered tailgate of a truck, his motorcycle parked nearby. Several others were close at hand, drinking beer or tequila straight out of the bottle. They all looked wild, scruffy, and dangerous.

"Em, Harris," he greeted them as they came closer. "How's it going?"

"Cash," Emily replied, a tone of respect in her voice. "It's a good night."

"So Harris, what do you have to say about my offer?" Cash asked, cutting out all the crap and getting to the point.

Xander swallowed, knowing that what he was about to do would change his life dramatically; that there was no going back once he spoke. "Yeah and I accept as long as I am given time to get my affairs in order back home. I can't just disappear without some sort of repercussions. My friends might come looking for me, causing problems for everyone. I also own the company I work for some sort of notice that I will be leaving and I need to try to get my parents to leave my hometown. They may not be the greatest parents around, but I own them that much."

Cash looked him over, sizing him up. Suddenly, he broke out into a grin and clasped Xander's hand in his own, giving the human a firm handshake. "Deal. I'll give you two weeks to get affairs taken care of. Welcome to the clan Gangrel Alex."

The rest of the night went quickly. Alex was welcomed by the other Gangrels into the clan, while the few humans that were there looked upon him with envy. One of the weirder moments was when Lonnie and Paul were recounting to other Gangrels how Alex had killed the Primordial vampire in the bar without even blinking. The others listened, impressed that a mere human would have the wherewithal to stake a demon vampire. They were even more impressed when one of them, Mark something-or-the-other, asked where he was from. When he told them Sunnydale, they all looked amazed and slightly horrified. Apparently Sunnydale's reputation was quite well-known among the Kindred.

Overall, he had a great time that night. It was a wild party, plenty of drinking, racing, a couple of fights, and whatnot. One of the weirder things he saw was Gangrel changing their shape into the form of a wolf. They didn't change like Oz did, but into large, powerful wolves. Emily assured him that once he changed, he would also be able to shift his shape.

By the time the party had wound down, it was close to four in the morning. They made their way back to Emily's apartment and collapsed on to the bed, however neither of them were especially sleepy.

Xander rolled over to look at Emily who was busy looking at him. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure. You know you can," she replied, knowing instinctively it had something to do with being Kindred.

"How do you feed? I mean, I haven't seen you drinking anyone's blood since I've been here."

"If I can't go out and hunt for whatever reason, I use donated blood. Kindred society has it set up under the guise of a research company and get people, mostly homeless or addicts, to donate a pint or so. We pay them, unlike a regular donation facility. If a Kindred member wants a supply of blood, we go down to the company's headquarters and get what we need for a fee. I have a supply in the fridge that I've been using. Otherwise, we hunt for our food, but we do not need to kill in order to get what we need."

"Why don't you hunt then?"

"I wasn't sure how you'd feel about everything, so it was just easier to buy what I needed."

"Do you need to feed again?" Xander asked.

"Yeah," Emily shrugged. "But it can wait."

"You can use me if you want. It won't kill me right," Xander offered, the continued when he saw Emily starting to object. "Look, I'm going to be one of you in a couple of weeks, it won't be that big of a deal, besides, I want to. You've already done so much for me; let me do this for you."

Emily smiled and sat up, letting the bed sheets fall down. "Are you sure?" she asked. When Xander nodded, she took his wrist in her hand and bit down as gently as she could. When the blood began to well up freely she started to drink from him.

Xander couldn't help the moan the escaped from his lips. What he was feeling was pure bliss. It was warm and comforting, while at the same time slightly dark and scary, but not enough for him to care. It was also highly erotic, he noted.

Soon it was over, but not before Emily brought her own wrist to her mouth and bit down. She then offered the wounded limb to Xander. "Go ahead, it won't change you."

Xander took the wrist and took a hesitant swallow of the dark red liquid that was running down her arm. Immediately, his eyes flared open. It didn't taste coppery or nasty. It was pure heaven, drinking from her. Emily's blood was powerful and there was a sense of wildness in it. Through the blood he was able to glimpse images and snapshots of Emily throughout her life, from childhood to her Embrace by Stevie Ray.

While the experience lasted only a few minutes, it was enough. Emily had to forcefully take her wrist back; he wanted – no craved – more. Emily's blood was addictive; it transformed and altered his perceptions of himself, Emily, and the world around him. But the experience had to end before he took any more, least he would start to change and become a ghoul. Despite his disappointment, he gave in to her insistence for him to stop. With that, the couple collapsed against each other, falling into a peaceful slumber.

A/N: I really don't remember how they handled the whole feeding thing on KTE. I am taking an idea from the Underworld and using what I would do if I had been in charge of script/story development (of course if I had been in charge, they would not have ended the production after the actor that played Luna had died – no disrespect intended). Also, I figure since Angel had been seen buying blood from that meat processing plant during season three, why couldn't I use the same concept. So if I made a mistake, find it in your heart to forgive me.

Finally, go ahead and hit the shiny review button. It'll make me happy and you'll feel better afterwards. Cheers!


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

A/N: I don't own any recognizable BTVS or KTE characters. I promise to return them unharmed once I am done playing with them, so please don't sue

Thank you to those that have stuck with me and my story. It's just about over with for this installment. I do appreciate the reviews. I know that I have said it before, but it does help and gives me a bit of a pick-me-up when I see one in my inbox. Thank you to those that have put me on their lists of favorites and their alert lists; it was very kind of you to do so. Finally, thank you to those that have taken the time to read my stuff.

Yes, this is a bit earlier than when I normally post things, but I know that the next week is going to be insanely busy, so here is chapter 8.

Warning: Potty language!

They stood at the security gate at the airport, holding on to each other tightly, afraid of letting the other go.

"Are you going to be okay?" Emily asked her eyes liquid with unshed tears. She didn't want him to go, despite his reassurances that he would be back in two weeks or less, depending on how things went back home.

"Yeah, I'll be back before you know it. It'll be okay Em. Don't worry," Xander said, holding on to her tightly. It was killing him slightly to be walking away from her. He needed to be with her. The only thing that was making his leaving bearable was the knowledge that he would be back once his business was completed.

"Be safe there. The Hellmouth is a dangerous place to be," she whispered. "You had better go now. Your flight leaves soon," she said in a louder tone, wiping her eyes.

"See you soon," he said and kissed her gently. With that, he picked up his bag and walked through security.

On the plane ride home, he pondered how he was going to tell everyone that he was leaving. He hoped that he could convince his parents that leaving Sunnydale was in their best interests, but he did not put much stock into that hope. However, he knew that his parents wouldn't care either way if he stayed or left. His friends (despite their shitty treatment of him lately, he still considered them friends) acceptance of his decision to leave, was a more troublesome prospect. They could go the 'good now that he's gone' route or they could get extremely nosy and somehow stumble upon the Kindred, thus ruining his chances of being with Emily and starting a new life with her.

xoxoxoxoxo

By the time he thought he had things figured out, it was close to seven o'clock in the evening and his plane was back on the ground. He went through the annoying hassles of disembarking and made it out into the terminal. Since he had had a co-worker take him to the airport on Friday, he figured that he would just catch a cab for his ride home. Much to his surprise, Anya was waiting at the gate for him to arrive.

As he stepped through the controlled area she launched herself at him, giving him a big hug. Xander did his best to not pull back, though he noticeably stiffened at her touch. It wasn't Emily that was hugging him and he really didn't want another woman touching him.

Anya chose to ignore this and continued to talk about what had gone on for the weekend at the Magic Shop as they walked out of the building and to the parking lot. She was so busy telling Xander about her weekend that she didn't notice him not listening, nor did she even ask him about his weekend.

"Anya, you didn't have to pick me up," Xander said, interrupting her diatribe about some clueless wannabe Wiccan who bought all the wrong materials for an energy spell. They were in the car now and on the highway back to Sunnydale.

"I know. I called your mom and got your flight information from her. So I thought that I would surprise you and meet you here. Plus, afterwards we could always go and have many orgasms back at my place," she announced, much to Xander's dismay.

"An," Xander said, but was interrupted by Anya's constant prattle. He could not get a word in. "Anya!" he tried again, this time in a loud voice.

That caught her attention, causing her to halt in mid sentence. "What?" she asked irritably.

"I appreciate you coming to get me. I really do. However, I don't want to go back to your place for sex," he said.

"What? You want to have sex here? On the freeway?"

"No. I want to go home and crash. It's been a long weekend and I need to get some sleep if I want to make it to work tomorrow on time."

"Okay. We can have sex there." Anya's mind was definitely a one-tracker if there ever was one.

"No," he said. "I want to go home to sleep, alone, by myself. Okay?"

Anya huffed, obviously put out. "Well, fine if that's the way you want to be." She spent the rest of the car ride in silence, quietly wondering what the hell crawled up Xander's ass. He never-not wanted sex with her before. It was weird, in her opinion.

She dropped him off at his home and quickly tore away, ignoring the blasting of his neighbor's car horn.

He trudged inside the home and found his parents passed out in the living room. Obviously nothing major changed while he had been away. He then went downstairs to his bedroom, dumped his stuff on the floor by the stairs, stripped down to his boxers, and fell into bed. He quickly checked his alarm and saw that it was set for 5:30 am. Once the basics were taken care of, he quickly slipped off to sleep, dreaming of Emily.

xoxoxoxoxo

Work the next day went by quickly. Everyone showed up, nobody had been killed over the weekend; therefore they were able to get several jobs done that day. Xander did experience a bit of anxiety when he told his boss that he was moving to San Francisco in two weeks. Mike, the site foreman took the news well and after a quick phone call, he offered him a position with the company's San Francisco branch. He did ask Xander to stay for the next two weeks in Sunnydale, and then start at the new job site in three weeks, with a week off for the move. Mike said that he regretted losing a good worker like him, but understood Xander's need to leave Sunnydale.

"You know there's something really wrong with this town. People are always dying here, weird things go on that don't happen elsewhere. I mean, name one other town that has seen a mass case of laryngitis and people get their hearts cut out?" Mike mussed.

"Sunnydale is unique," Xander agreed. "Look Mike, I'll be honest with you. There's a lot of weird stuff that goes on in this town. Just be careful at night, don't invite any strangers inside your home, and if someone is missing from work, you might want to call the morgue after you call their home."

"What?" Mike asked, alarm in his voice.

"Yeah, Sunnydale is a bad place to be sometimes. If you ever get the chance to leave, take it," Xander said dryly. "Thanks for everything man. You've been a great boss."

They shook hands and soon Xander left for home. He wanted to grab a shower and get something to eat before he started looking for the others to tell them the news.

xoxoxoxoxo

Later that night, he was finally able to suck up his courage and head over to the Magic Box. He had called Willow earlier, refusing to go into details, asking if everyone was going to be there tonight. She affirmed that they would be over there at around eight, before Buffy went on patrol. When Xander inquired as to who would be there, she listed Buffy, Tara, Giles, Dawn (since Joyce was out of town), Anya, and herself. She also mentioned that Riley might be there. That one she wasn't too sure of. Willow wanted to go into a long discussion about some spell she was working on, but Xander cut her off, telling her that she'd see him at the shop around eight and abruptly hung up.

Just after eight, he strolled into the shop. Anya was behind the counter, going through the day's receipts. Looking up, she smiled, hoping that whatever had recently crawled up his ass had worked its way out; that way, they could have sex.

"Is everyone here?" he abruptly asked. He knew he sounded cold, but he knew he had to steel himself, least the others try to talk him out of the move or, worse, find out about the Kindred, thus exposing Emily to danger.

Anya frowned. This was not the Xander she was used too. "They're all in the back. Giles has Buffy doing some training thing, while Willow and Tara are in research mode."

"Good. If you can, can you close up and come back to the back for a bit," he asked, ever so polite.

"You know, I have lots to do," she began, sounding shrill and harpy-like, but Xander cut her off.

"Fine, don't come back. I don't really care," he said, and continued on his way to the back room of the Magic Shop.

He went into the back and stood there at the door, taking in all that was going on. Giles was directing Buffy through a series of exercises, while Riley was serving as her partner/target/victim. Dawn was sitting in a chair in the corner, reading a book, while Tara and Willow were pouring over some large tome. Nobody looked up when he entered the room, adding to his nagging feeling of invisibility within the group.

"Hey guys, can I have a minute of your time?" he called as Riley was busy picking himself up off the floor after Buffy had swept him, literally, off his feet.

No response.

"Guys!" he barked this time, no longer polite.

Everyone looked up in surprise, nobody had heard (or bothered to) him come in.

Xander smirked. For a bunch of superheroes, they were not really aware of what was going on around them, further convincing him that getting away from Sunnydale, away from them, was the right thing to do, Kindred or no Kindred.

"Guys, I need to let you guys know something," he began as he sat down on a chair near the table that Tara and Willow were sitting at. "I've been offered a position with my company up in San Francisco and I'm going to take it."

Nobody said anything for at least a minute, and then Buffy began to laugh. "Come on Xan, get real," she said dismissively, pissing Xander off.

"I am real. I leave in two weeks. I already have a place up there. All I have to do is finish out my time here with the job, get my stuff packed, and then I'm gone," he said, struggling to get his temper under control. Yes he was pissed, but he did not want to leave on bad terms with the Scoobies.

"Are you serious? When did you decide this?" Willow asked, her face going white. Her Xander, her childhood friend, was leaving her and she did not like the thought of losing another friend.

"I've been thinking about this for some time and I received an offer that's too good to pass up."

"But what about what we do? Isn't that important? How can you leave that?" Buffy demanded, her eyes flashing in anger. It pissed her off that another friend was leaving her.

"What we do? Come on, you use me for lifts and donut runs and deride anything I attempt to do beyond that. You ignore most of what I say, yell at me for not doing as you say. Two weeks ago you yelled at me for killing two demons that you guys let escape. Why would I want to continue being abused and ignored by you?" Xander said his voice even.

"We don't ignore you Xander," Giles said, cleaning his glasses.

"Besides Xander, you could have been hurt by those demons. You don't have anything special to help protect you," Buffy said, not seeing how rude she was being. Riley smirked at him, backing up Buffy's assessment of the Zeppo.

"Really? Fine. But may I remind you that it was me who killed two of them with a knife and no special abilities. You're probably right and the demons just threw themselves on my knife to spare me the embarrassment. Anyway, think what you want, I'm still leaving. I just thought that you guys might want to know. Take care," Xander shrugged.

"Xander, wait," Dawn called.

Sighing, Xander stopped for her. Dawn had done nothing to incur his wrath.

"Will you ever come back to visit us?" she asked, a hopeful tone in her voice.

"No, I really doubt it." With that, he turned and walked out of the Scoobies' secret club house, effectively removing them from his life.

A/N: Go ahead and hit the shiny review button. It'll make me happy and you'll feel better afterwards. It's almost the end here. I want to say thank you to everyone that has joined me in this jaunty ride. As always, peace to everyone and may you have a blessed day. Cheers!


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

A/N: I acknowledge the fact that I do not own BTVS and KTE, damn it. I also recognize that I do not own any of the recognizable characters of either show. However, any original characters are mine to use and abuse as I see fit.

Thank you to all that have taken the time to read my story, left reviews, and/or added me to a list or alert. It was incredibly kind of you to do so. I really do appreciate the helpful comments or the quick pick-me-ups that have been left. Thanks.

Warnings: I think I only cussed once or twice in this chapter.

The next two weeks flew by in a blur. He spent the time, when not at work, getting his bank account information transferred to San Francisco, switching his cell phone number to a San Francisco area code, and trying to convince his parents to leave Sunnydale.

Much to his disappointment, his parents refused to listen to his words, claiming that they were fine where they were. However, Tony and Marie both proclaimed that they were happy for their son that he was leaving to go out and start his life away from Sunnydale. They knew that Sunnydale held no real future for their son and wished the best for him. Sadly, Xander knew that he had no choice to accept their decision, no matter how foolish it was. He did make sure that his mother had his new cell phone number. It was the best he could do for them under the circumstances.

He spent the remainder of his time working during the day and going through his belongings at night. The others didn't call him to go to the Bronze, go on patrol, or help with research. It hurt knowing that the others already considered him gone and out of their lives, but he knew that it was for the best. It made the break easier for him; easier to leave his old life behind.

He also spent time on the phone talking to Emily. She asked how his day had gone, what kind of television shows he liked, what his opinion on the latest political shenanigans taking place in Washington were. She was sincerely interested in what he had to day. Xander also asked her about her likes and dislikes. It was nice to just talk to another person about normal stuff, and to have one's feelings honestly reciprocated.

She offered advice when asked, cared about his feelings, and treated him as something more than a Zeppo. There was a respect and closeness between them that didn't exist between him and Anya, or even Buffy and the others.

Finally, Saturday rolled around, his departure day from the Hellmouth. Much to his disappointment, nobody bothered to see him off. His mom and dad were busy sleeping off a night of heavy drinking and would not be available for an eight in the morning departure time. The girls, Buffy and Willow, were still pissed at him for leaving and refused to do anything to encourage his desire for independence, least of all, say good by. However, the two people who did show up were the last ones he would have ever expected to see him off.

Giles and Dawn came by. They showed up, despite the early hour and despite the semi-crappy way he had treated Dawn.

"Does Buffy know you're here?" Xander asked, looking between the middle aged man and the young girl.

Dawn shook her head. "No, but Mom does. Thanks for coming to say good-bye to her the other day. That was real nice. I'm sorry that I missed you then. Buffy won't talk about you leaving at all and is being a bitch about everything," she cringed slightly at Giles' heavy sigh. "Anyway, I just wanted to tell you good luck and Giles said he'd bring me."

Xander scuffed the toe of his tennis shoe on the ground. "I'm sorry that I was so short with you back at the magic shop. I was mad and I didn't mean for it to come out the way it did."

Dawn didn't say anything, but instead wrapped her too skinny arms around his torso and squeezed as hard as she could. By the time they broke apart, Dawn was openly crying and Xander felt tears form in his eyes.

Next was Giles.

Xander stuck out his hand. "Thanks for bringing Dawn and well, thanks for, well, everything. For a stuffy Brit, you aren't too bad."

"You've come a long way Xander in the time we've known each other. I know I've been a bit short with you lately, but I honestly thought it was for the best to keep you out of things," Giles replied, clasping Xander's hand warmly. "The others' pride is hurt Xander, don't judge them too harshly."

"It's not a matter of me judging them; it's their judgment of me. I'm tired of being a third wheel to Buffy. I have a chance to change my life, for the better, and it's time for me to move on," Xander said, his voice even. "Take care of yourself, the both of you."

"Be careful Xander. San Francisco can be a strange place sometimes," Giles advised.

"Yeah," was all he would say in response; there didn't seem to be much more that he could say.

After that, it was all very anti-climatic. The car was packed, the tank full of gas (no half pack of cigarettes though), and his shades were on. With a cheerless sigh and smile, he took one last look at his childhood home. Once that was done he climbed into his car and started the engine. He slowly backed out of the driveway and started the long drive to his new life.

He passed the graveyards where he had spent countless nights on patrol with Buffy, the approximate spot where he had staked Jesse, the near-by park where he and Willow had passed many of their childhood afternoons playing hide and seek. Driving past the high school was cheerless, seeing the burnt-out shell that he helped create. He drove past the Bronze, recalling all of the times he had gone there with the others. All in all, it was a memory trip that brought back so many memories, both good and bad

Finally, he made it outside of the city, speeding past the sign thanking people for visiting Sunnydale and asking them to come again. Snorting in half-disgust and half-amusement, he vowed that by leaving Sunnydale, he was leaving everything behind, starting fresh. No more Buffy and the Scoobies, no more weekly Apocalypses, no more Hellmouth crap he thought. No longer the Zeppo, he vowed as he tore his eyes away from the rear-view mirror and concentrated on the road ahead of him and his new future with Emily and the Kindred.

The End (for now).

A/N: Thank you to everyone that wrote such kind things in their review. I really appreciate it. It was fun to write and helped stave off the insanity that comes with my life.

I tried to fix the harshness between Xander and Dawn. It's a tad cheesy, I think, but I did agree with what the others said about it and wanted it to be less harsh. Besides, the character of Dawn seemed to me to be one to not carry grudges against others and Giles was the father figure, and I figured he would want to see his "son" off, despite everything. Originally, nobody came to see Xander off and it was very anti-climatic.

I do have a sequel in mind and have it already outlined (its amazing what one will do in boring staff and professional development meetings to keep from screaming due to boredom). I do plan on showing Xander being Embraced and Xander will be a darker character, hopefully without going over the top and being clichéd about it. I promise there will be lots of swearing, pissy attitudes, and a massive meltdown between Xander and the others. Any opinions, questions, concerns, etc. about this? I always appreciate constructive criticism and ideas. I'll probably work on it over the holiday breaks. Anyway, thanks again for coming along on my wacky trip into BTVS crossover fan fiction. Thank you and have a blessed day.

Cheers (and merry Christmas and a happy New Year's to all)!

Shannon K


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